


Shaggy Dog

by below_et_almost



Category: Highlander - All Media Types, Highlander: The Series
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Gen, That's it, just a conversation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21921904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/below_et_almost/pseuds/below_et_almost
Summary: Three friends, chatting in a bar.
Relationships: Duncan MacLeod & Methos (Highlander), Joe Dawson & Duncan MacLeod, Joe Dawson & Methos (Highlander)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	Shaggy Dog

“And why is Seacouver immortal central, anyway?” Methos grumbled into his glass. Joe, wiping down the counter just a few steps away, smiled. Duncan, seated next to Methos at the bar, was caught somewhere between amusement and exasperation. Methos had some great whoppers, but he required encouragement to tell them completely, cutting the narrative with rambles seemingly designed to test his listeners’ patience. And his complaining! That old man could wax cynical about anything. Especially, Duncan suspected, for Duncan’s own viewing pleasure. Mighty entertaining kvetching it could be, too, he thought, and settled in to egg on his friend.

“I’d think you would enjoy the chance to catch up with old friends, Methos,” MacLeod said. Methos shot him a baleful glance over the rim of his cup. “Ah, nonviolent friends, whom you haven’t seen in a while,” Duncan smoothly corrected, hiding a wince. “What about spending a few days having fun in good company leads to darkly muttering over Seacouver’s immortal population?”

“It’s not 'having fun with friends’ that’s the problem, MacLeod.” Duncan could hear the air quotes. “It’s having fun with three friends, all of whom believe me to be a different age. Not to mention their Watchers!”

“I didn’t think Watchers typically come in close enough to record conversations?” Duncan asked.

“You can’t be too careful in a public space,” Methos replied, sticking his sniffer in the air for a short pose: sanctimonious old bastard knows more than his audience. Then he shrugged, and turned back to his drink. “Of course, accidents happen.”

Ah, Duncan thought, here was the story. For a moment, his hands tightened around his own drink, but his common sense soon asserted that Methos would be a bit more alarmed if the Watchers had learned his true age. “So, wise old Methos, champion of caution and protecting his own interests, slipped up,” he teased.

“Well, as I said, accidents happen,” Methos explained earnestly. His wide eyes met Duncan’s. “You see, Marcus thinks I’m, oh, eight hundred or so, playing younger, say two-hundred-ish. Isaiah thinks I’m three hundred playing at Adam Pierson, and Bobby is under the impression that I _am_ Adam Pierson.” Throughout this explanation, Duncan’s eyebrows had progressively gained altitude. Joe continued to hide his amusement behind his make-work, to no avail. His shit eating grin gave him away. 

“So you’re saying that your little identity juggling act is getting to you, Methos, evangelist of the value of caution,” MacLeod said. Methos was half-surprised to see the Highlander could talk through all that smug. Okay, it was teasing, comradely smug, but still. 

Joe leaned in to grant his two cents to the two immortals at long last. “Don’t tease the old man,” he told Mac. “Preaching and occasionally practicing caution is hard.” Methos made a stink face, and his companions cracked up.

“I don’t know why I hang out with you two--” he started.

“Hang out?” MacLeod guffawed. The ancient immortal sniffed.

“I’ll have you know that keeping up on the latest lingo is a time-honored survival skill. You ought to follow my example,” he said from beneath his raised proboscis.

“Yeah, Mac, I thought one of the perks of working at a school is learning how your next identity is going to talk,” Joe chimed in. Apparently, he was an equal opportunity zinger, Duncan thought sourly.

“Yeah, yeah,” said Duncan, waving away his friends teasing remarks. “So what was so terrible about avoiding the subject of your venerable age?”

“It’s not just forgoing to mention the _number_ , MacLeod, it’s avoiding shared anecdotes dating to before Pierson, acting uninformed of people and events, older habits...”

“Can’t you explain Adam as a history buff?” asked Dawson. “You worked for a historical society, I think some historical knowledge must have been part of that package.”

“You’d think so,” said Duncan. His eyes were focused on a point over Joe’s shoulder and in all probability a time before Joe’s birth. “But the little details can give you away. When recording the great events of a time, chroniclers often miss the commonplace details, and what one person hears at a time or the prevailing sentiment of the area may be different from what’s preserved in the letters a historian reads. People have emotional reactions-- likes, dislikes, jokes even.” For a time, silence fell. The two immortals sipped their drinks, and the Watcher kept his gaze on his bar rag.

After a few moments, the bartender broke the spell of melancholy contemplation. “So? You were saying, about your secret identity problems?”

“Ah,” said Methos, blinking. “Yes, those.”

**Author's Note:**

> I found this approximately three years old snippet while cleaning. Although I'm not actively in HL fandom anymore, it was very nostalgic, so I typed it up. Where was it going? I, too, am unsure.


End file.
